Contest Update Issues

Contester's Rate Sheet for July 17, 2002

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Contester's Rate Sheet
17 July 2002
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Edited by Ward Silver, N0AX
Your editor is experiencing the wonders of Finland as a referee at
WRTC2002 so this issue was prepared in late June. Apologies for
missing any late-breaking news items, such as "Referee replaces ailing
WRTC team member, takes 1st Place in surprising dark horse win!"
SUMMARY
o CQ WW VHF Contest - one weekend later than usual this year
o IOTA Contest on 27 & 28 July - look for special expeditions to rare
IOTA counters
o Pacific 160 Meter Contest on July 20 - yep, it's WINTER down under
o New propagation program announced
BULLETINS
o No bulletins this issue.
BUSTED QSOS
o A golden issue last time - since I wasn't here to read any
complaints...
ANNOUNCEMENT & NOTICES FOR 17 JULY TO 30 JULY 2002
Logs are due for the following contests:
o July 23, 2002 Marconi Memorial HF Contest - email to:
ik6ptj@qsl.net, paper logs to: ARI sez.di Fano, PO Box 35, 61032 FANO
(PS), Italy
o July 23, 2002 ARRL Field Day - email to: FieldDay@arrl.org, paper
logs to: Field Day Entry, ARRL, 225 Main St., Newington, CT 06111,
USA
o July 23, 2002 ARCI Milliwatt Field Day - email to:
rfoltz@turbonet.com, paper logs to: Randy Foltz, K7TQ, Attn: Milliwatt
Field Day, 809 Leigh St., Moscow, ID 83843, USA
o July 30, 2002 His Maj. King of Spain Contest, SSB - email to:
ea5al@ure.es, paper logs to: Vocalia Concursos URE, Apartado Postal
87, 12200 Onda, Castellon
Spain
The following contests are scheduled:
Pacific 160 Meter Contest - CW/SSB - Sponsored by the Wireless
Institute of Australia, 0700-2330Z July 20. Work P2, ZL and VK only
between 1825 -- 1850 kHz. Categories: SO and SWL. Exchange: RS(T) and
serial number. QSO Points: 5 pts/QSO Score: QSO Points x P2, ZL, VK
call areas. Multipliers are P2, ZL and VK call areas. Final score is
total QSO points times total multipliers. To avoid QRM betweeen modes
stations are asked to operate in 15 minute blocks - CW on the hour and
hour + 30 minutes; SSB on the hour + 15 minutes and hour + 45 minutes.
Logs due Aug 31 to vk3did@eudoramail.com or to Ian Godsil VK3DID, 57
Nepean Highway, Aspendale, 3195, Australia.
AGCW QRP Summer Contest - CW -- sponsored by Arbeitsgemeinschaft
Telegrafie (AGCW-DL) from 1500Z Jul 20 to 1500Z Jul 21, operate up to
9 hours. Frequencies: 80 -- 10 meters. Categories: VLP (<1W), QRP
(<5W), MP (<25W), QRO. Exchange: RST + serial number + category. QSO
Points: QRP-VLP, QRP-QRP, VLP-QRP and VLP-VLP - 3 pts, all others 2
pts, no QRO-QRO. Score: QSO Points x DXCC entities counted once per
band. For more information - http://www.agcw.de. Logs due 31 Aug to
qrp-test@agcw.de or to Lutz Noack, DL4DRA, Hochschulstr. 30/702,
D-01069, Dresden, Germany.
North American RTTY QSO Party - sponsored by the National Contest
Journal from 1800Z Jul 20 to 0600Z Jul 21. Frequencies: 80--10
meters. Categories SOAB and M2, SO stations operate 10 hours max.
with off times of at least 30 min.. Exchange: Name and SPC. QSO
Points: 1 pt/QSO. Score is QSO Points x SPC (NA entities only)
counted once per band. DX QSOs count for QSO points, but not as
multipliers. For more information -- http://www.ncjweb.com. Logs due
30 days after the contest to rttynaqp@ncjweb.com. For team
registration http://www.ncjweb.com/rttynaqpteamreg.php or Jay Townsend
WS7I, PO Box 644, Spokane, WA 99210.
CQC Great Colorado Gold Rush -- CW - sponsored by the Colorado QRP
Club, from 2000Z to 2200Z Jul 21. Frequencies: 20-meters only.
Categories: Wire, Vertical, Beam, or Portable. Exchange: RST + SPC +
Category + CQC member number or power output. Work stations up to
three times during the contest, with at least 30 min. between QSOs.
QSO Points: 1st QSO -- 3 pts, 2nd QSO -- 2 pts, 3rd QSO -- 1pt.
Score: QSO Points x SPC + CQC members. For more information -
http://www.cqc.org/contests/gold2002.htm. Logs are due 30 days after
the contest to contest@cqc.org or to Goldrush, c/o CQC, PO Box 371883,
Denver, CO 80237-1883.
CQ WW VHF Contest -- all modes - sponsored by CQ Magazine from 1800Z
Jul 20 -- 2100Z Jul 21. Frequencies: 50 and 144 MHz bands, except
146.52 MHz (and other national simplex calling frequencies) and
repeater frequencies. Please avoid the DX windows and international
calling frequencies. Categories: SOAB, SOSB, MM, Rover, QRP (<25W).
Exchange: Callsign and four-digit Maidenhead grid. Work Rover stations
in each grid. QSO Points: 50 MHz -- 1 pt, 144 MHz -- 2 pts. Score:
QSO Points x grids counted once per band (Rovers count grids from each
activated grid). For more information -
http://www.cq-amateur-radio.com/VHFRUl02.pdf. Logs due 1 Sep to
cqvhf@cqww.com or to CQ VHF Contest, 25 Newbridge Rd., Hicksville, NY
11801.
Georgia QSO Party - CW/SSB - sponsored by SECC and SEDXC, in two
periods, from 1800Z Jul 20 to 0359Z Jul 21 and 1400Z Jul 21 to 2359Z
Jul 21, no time limit. Frequencies: 80 - 10 meters. Categories: SOAB,
MS, MM, Rover, Novice/Tech, all categories can be HP, LP (<150W), or
QRP (<5W). Rovers must activate at least 6 GA counties. Mobiles and
portables must move the complete station including antennas at least
100 yards to change counties - no county line operations. Multipliers
count on each mode. Exchange RST and GA county or SPC. QSO Points:
SSB -- 1 pt., CW - 2 pts. Score: QSO Points x GA counties (GA station
use states and provinces) counted once per mode. For more information
- http://secc.contesting.com. Logs are due Aug 22 to
jshort@mindspring.com or to Jeff Short KD3UC, 5106 Cypress Court,
Alpharetta, GA, 30005.
W/VE Islands Contest -- CW/Digital/SSB - sponsored by the US Islands
Awards Program from 1500Z Jul 20 to 2359Z Jul 21. Frequencies: 160 --
10 meters. Categories: W/VE-phone, W/VE-CW/Digital, as Non-Island,
Island, or Island Rover, plus DX and SWL. Exchange: RS(T), SPC, and
island name & USI number (CISA no. for VE islands). Non-island
stations work island stations only. Work stations once per island per
mode. QSO Points: island - 5 pts, non-island -- 1 pt. Score: QSO
Points x states + provinces. For more information -
http://www.eng.mu.edu/~usi/. Logs due Aug 31 to ad4lx@arrl.net or to
AD4LX, Ray Phelps, 1440 SW 53rd Terrace, Cape Coral, FL 33914.
Six Club Six Meter Sprint -- CW/SSB - sponsored by the Six Club, 2300Z
Jul 20 to 0400Z Jul 21. Frequencies: 50 MHz. Exchange: 4-digit
Maidenhead grid. QSO Points: own country -- 1 pt, diff. country - 2
pts (KH6 and KL7 count as countries). Score: QSO points x grids. For
more information - http://6mt.com/contest.htm. Logs due Jul 22 to
sixclub@6mt.com or to Six Club, P O Box 307, Hatfield, AR 71945.
Venezuelan Ind. Day Contest, CW 0000Z, Jul 27 to 2400Z, Jul 28.
Frequencies; 160-10 meters. Categories: SOAB, SOSB, MS, MM.
Exchange: RST plus serial number. Work any station -- not just YV.
QSO Points: Own country -- 1 pt, different country, same continent --
3 pts, different cont. -- 5 pts. Score: QSO Points x YV call areas +
DXCC entities counted once per band. For more information -
http://www.radioclubvenezolano.org. Logs due 31 July (15 Sep for CW)
to haroldojr@cantv.net or Radio Club Venezolano, Concurso,
Independencia de Venezuela, PO Box 2285, Caracas 1010-A, Venezuela.
Russian RTTY WW Contest - sponsored by the Russian Center Radio Club
(RCRC) from 0000Z Jul 27 to 2400Z Jul 28. Frequencies: 80 -- 10
meters. Categories: SOAB, SOSB, MS, SWL. Exchange: RST + CQ Zone
(Russian stations send 2-letter Oblast). QSO Points: own continent --
5 pts, diff. cont. -- 10 pts. Score: QSO Points x DXCC entities +
Oblasts. Logs due by Sep 1 to rw9wa@ufanet.ru or to Russian RTTY WW
Contest Manager Andrey G. Korpachev, RW9WA, PO Box 7056, UFA 450075,
Russia
RSGB Islands-On-The-Air Contest - CW/SSB - sponsored by the RSGB from
1200Z Jul 27 to 1200Z Jul 28. Frequencies: 80 -- 10 meters.
Categories: SOAB (SSB/CW/Mixed), SOAB-Limited (SSB/CW/Mixed, 12 hours
max.), MS-Island. Exchange: RS(T), serial no. and IOTA reference
number. QSO Points: own country or IOTA - 2 pts, other IOTA -- 15
pts, other countries - 5 pts. Score: QSO points x IOTA refs, counted
once per band and mode. For more information -- http://www.rsgb.org.
Logs due Aug 31 to iota.logs@rsgbhfcc.org or to RSGB IOTA Contest, PO
Box 9, Potters Bar, Herts EN6 3RH, England.
Flight of the Bumblebees - CW - sponsored by the Adventure Radio
Society, 1700Z - 2100Z July 28. Bumblebees are low power portable
stations that walk, bike, or boat to their sites and sign "/BB" after
their calls. Frequencies: 7040, 14060, 21060, 28060 kHz. Exchange:
RST, SPC, and Bumblebee Number or power (5 watts maximum). Score:
QSOs x number of different Bumblebees contacted x 3. For more
information -
http://www.natworld.com/ars/pages/bumblebees/bb_rules.html. Logs are
due 14 days after the contest via the ARS reporting web site
http://www.natworld.com/ars/bb_log.html or to Adventure Radio Society,
47227 Goodpasture Rd., Vida, OR 97488
NEWS & PRESS RELEASES
There have been a lot of times in contests that I have wished for a
time machine. Now there is one! The Time Machine allows you to
capture an 80-khz slice of any HF band, and record 6 hours (per tape)
of the whole band segment on a VHS stereo VCR. You can then play it
back through your receiver if you were connected to an antenna during
the contest, tuning back and forth anywhere in the band. The
possibilities are boggling - take a look at
http://www.expandedspectrumsystems.com/prod2.html for the full
story. (Thanks, Doug K1DG and Pete N4ZR)
July 29th is the close of the period to file comments on FCC proposals
to create two new amateur bands and to create a new Amateur Service
primary allocation in the vicinity of 2.4 GHz. A copy of the petition
is available on the ARRL Web site,
http://www.arrl.org/announce/regulatory/et02-98/. To read the filed
comments, access the FCC's Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS)
website, http://www.fcc.gov/e-file/ecfs.html. Click on ''Search for
Filed Comments'' and enter ''02-98'' in the ''Proceeding'' field. To
submit comments, access
http://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/upload_v2.cgi, enter "02-98" in Box
1, fill out all non-optional boxes and choose the method of input,
confirm on the next page that appears and, if everything is OK, you
will see a page with your name and a confirmation number.
TECHNICAL & TECHNIQUE
One of my fellow Western Washington DX Club members was suffering from
a plague of noise on 80 and 160 meters - continuous S-6 to S-8 across
the band. No fun. The culprits turned out to be the power supplies in
the home computers - fairly new machines. Even with the computers
themselves turned off, the power supplies continued to generate noise.
Replacing both power supplies with Part B-certified units knocked the
noise down to S-2 on 80 and almost as good on 160. The replacement
supplies are much heavier than the originals although rated for the
same power level and they appear to have two cooling fans inside.
(Thanks, K7RX)
If you don't want to be late off the blocks at 0000Z and you can't
trust that PC clock to be and stay accurate, a recent flurry of emails
on the CQ-Contest reflector (cq-contest@contesting.com) turned up some
good information for synchronizing your clock to standard time.
http://www.radiocontrolledclock.com/ is a site that sells clocks which
lock onto WWVB VLF transmissions. You might also try using a GPS
receiver that outputs NEMA standard data over an RS-232 interface.
Tardis 200 - a shareware atomic clock program that works with Internet
time standards or GPS receivers is available at
http://www.kaska.demon.co.uk/tardis.htm. TAPR also supports the Most
Accurate Clock (TOC) project at
http://www.tapr.org/tapr/html/tac2.html. Ready, fire, aim! (Thanks,
Jim AD1C, Gerry W1VE/VE1RM, and Eric W3DQ)
A new propagation software product is available. Joe Ahlgren, the
author of GeoClock . and Richard Buckner, and two other programmers
have spent the last 16 months developing ACE-HF, which uses VOACAP as
a computational engine but adds some wonderful animated graphs to
express many variables, including required power gain, signal-to-noise
ratio and reliability. You can see details at http://www.acehf.com.
(Thanks, Tad K7VVV)
Here's a nice tip on RFI prevention. "In my own experience, grounding
isn't nearly as effective as some form of series impedance such as
snap-on ferrite chokes, and I try to use only audio, keying and
computer cables that are shielded twisted pairs contained in another
overall shield. If you ground both ends of a shield, you can get audio
hum, so I use a bypass capacitor to ground one end for RF while
isolating the shield to prevent hum currents." (Thanks, Dave W6NL)
CONVERSATION
A CW op named McPhee
Was a contesting whiz at the key
He sounds like Rachmaninoff
As the signal turns on and off
But he's never once worked SSB
So a phone man - Hall of Fame he
Didn't mince words with McPhee
"While you struggled to send
Dots and dits without end
I just logged a hundred and three!"
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The Contester's Rate Sheet wishes to acknowledge information from the
following sources:
WA7BNM's Contest Calendar Web page -
http://www.hornucopia.com/contestcal/ ARRL Contest page -
http://www.arrl.org/contests/
SM3CER's Web site - http://www.sk3bg.se/contest/